Aishwarya Rai

Aishwarya Rai

Endhiran is a forthcoming science-fiction film being directed by S. Shankar, who with Endhiran, directs his tenth feature film. Despite several rumours regarding the lead actors, Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai have been formally announced to portray the title role. The film is expected to cost 120 crores and is set to contest with Kamal Haasan's film, Marmayogi, in a race to become India's most expensive film to date.

Development

After completing Nayak: The Real Hero in 2001, Shankar announced a project with Kamal Haasan and Preity Zinta titled Robo,[1] to be produced by the now-defunct production company Media Dreams. Despite, announcing the project, due to a lack of backing the project was cancelled and Shankar began work on Boys. In 2005, Shankar made another project, Anniyan, this was mistaken to be the renamed title for Robot.

After a stupendous response from his previous project, Sivaji: The Boss, there were speculations regarding Shankar's next film. However Shankar stated that he was going to be involved with his production house, S Pictures for 3 months. Several websites claimed that he was set to take his maiden Telugu language film with Chiranjeevi, while others claimed that it was set to be with Mahesh Babu.[8] Ajith Kumar was also considered for the film and several sources reported this news as confirmed but Kumar claimed that he wasn't yet approached. In July 2007, Shahrukh Khan was signed on to be the male lead of Robot and also the producer of the film. However, in October 2007, Shah Rukh Khan and Shankar officially called off the project. Khan commented that the script was "half-baked" and "dull" in comparison to his other films at the time. Shankar commented that Rajnikanth had commented on Shankar being a "trusted" and "excellent" script writer. Thus the two weren't able to compromise on one another opinions.
After further indications that either Ajith Kumar and Aamir Khan were set to sign up for the film, reports surfaced in early January 2008, that Rajnikanth has been roped in for the project. The movie will be made at a cost of Rs. 120 Crores.[13] Later in January 2008, Ayngaran International and Eros Multimedia agreed to become the producers of Robot with Karunamoorthy, the Chairman of Ayngaran International saying that:

“ We are very happy to announce that superstar Rajnikanth, Shankar along with A. R. Rahman are coming together again to make Robot, which is going to be made in Tamil and would be dubbed into Hindi, Telugu and English.”

The film was unable to keep its name, Robot, due to the English title in Tamil Nadu, whose government present tax exemption to films with Tamil titles. Likely titles suggested to proceed Robot as the title, included Iyandiran or Iyandira, both literal translations of Robot. However it was confimed in September 2008 that the film has been renamed to Endhiran[ The film's scripting is going on as told by Shankar in two interviews. It was subsequently announced that all those who have been committed for Robot should sign an agreement accepting that they will not commit themselves to any other project for the next two years of its production, with an exemption to the female lead, Aishwarya Rai.

Casting

Apart from the original decided casting of Rajnikanth in the lead role, Shankar as director and A. R. Rahman,[17], who sets a new record for the most expensive Musician of India, the rest of the cast is expected to be named within the next six months. Several heroines were approached to essay the lead female role with Aishwarya Rai,[18] Priyanka Chopra,[19] Deepika Padukone Asin Thottumkal, Trisha Krishnan, Shriya Saran , Priyamani and Nayanthara being linked with the role and furthermore, Amitabh Bachchan , J. D. Chakravarthy,[25] Narain[26] and Arjun are being considered for further lead roles. In late January 2008, Aishwarya Rai was announced as the heroine of the project, and she later confirmed her appearance in the film to the news channel, Aaj Tak for a fee of 6 crores, becoming the highest paid actress in India with her salary for Endhiran. Endhiran is touted to become the most expensive film ever made in India. In a subsequent interview Aishwarya Rai expressed how much she always wanted work with Shankar and Rajnikanth, and is eager to work on the project. Sujatha originally announced as the dialogue writer of the film, died during the production stages, with Balakumaran being named as his successor.

Along with Shankar's usual directorial assistants, Manoj Bharathiraja, son of noted fimmaker Bharathiraja, was signed on to be an assistant director. Sabu Cyril was signed up as the art director while Rathnavel has taken up the post of the cinematographer, after K. V. Anand, Manikandan, Nirav Shah, Thiru and Ravi K. Chandran all had opted out.

The music composed from A. R. Rahman would feature lyrics from Vairamuthu and Pa. Vijay, while Raju Sundaram will act as a choreographer to the songs. The film will be edited by Anthony, with Manish Malhotra and Mary E. Vogt dually in charge of costume designs. Yuen Woo Ping will be the stunt co-ordinator for Endhiran, making his foray into Indian films, whilst Stan Winston Studios will take care of the animatronics in the film.